
j 

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STATISTICS 

OF 






M&MTM €AMO)MMA. 


Collected by the Mining Board, of Charlotte, H. C. 



charlotte, n. a 

Observer Book and Steam Power Print. 
1878. 
















STATISTICS 


OF 




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Collected by the Mining Board, of Cbarlclte, H,^p, 

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1878. 









T/^2.^ 

■NgCs 

MEMORIAL. 

To (he Ilonorahle the Senate and House of Representaiwes of 
the Forty-Fifth Congress of (he United States: 

The undersigned, citizens of the Sixth Congressional Dis¬ 
trict of IN'orth Carolina, feeling a deep interest in the material 
prosperity of the country at large, and more particularh’' 
representing the mining interest of the South Atlantic States, 
believing, as vve do, that the future prosperity of the govern¬ 
ment of the United States does to a great degree depend upon 
the development of her mineral wealth, respectfully call the 
attention of 3 ’our honorable body to the following fact, viz: 
That the gold producing area of ^orth Carolina covers about 
twelve thousand ( 12 , 000 ) square miles, containing one hun¬ 
dred and forty (140) mines already more or less developed; 
also containing large coal, iron and copper areas. Yield of 
gold in the following South Atlantic States, up to June 30th, 
1877, as officially reported: 

JSTorth Carolina. |10,370,492 

Virginia. 1,641,343 

South Carolina . 1,382,455 

Georgia. 7,451,591 ®^^^ 

This is far below the actual yield. 

In consideration whereof, and calling your special attention 
to the accompaning statistics, we would ask that a Commis¬ 
sioner be appointed for the above named South Atlantic 
States to examine both the quality and number of mines at 
an early day, and report the result of such investigation, 
together with suggestions to your honorable body. 

With the hope that this prayer may have your earliest and 
most favorable consideration, 

Respectfully submitted. 






css 2-) C2 


Statistics of Mines and Minerals of Horth Carolina. 


At a meeting of the citizens of 
Charlotte, X. C., held January 25th, 
1S7S, (o consider some practicable 
method of advancing the mining in- 
t<^rests of this section, and particularly 
of this State, a Mining B ard was or¬ 
ganized, and measures were taken to 
collect such facts as might bear on 
thesuljecf, and to bring the.-e inter¬ 
ests to the attention of all persons con 
cerned in mining, both here and 
abroad. 

The members of this Board are im¬ 
pressed with the magnitude of the 
material interests involved, and are 
fully conscious of the influence which : 
these mineral resources may and ; 
ought to have on the future industri- | 
al condition of this section, and, | 
through the prosperity of this section, ; 
on the welfare Of the coLintrv at large. ' 

it has fallen to the lot of some of i 
them in the course of their business ' 
and professional pursuits to become 
acquainted with the extent and the 
nature of these hidden gifts of provi¬ 
dence ; they at least are sure that few 
parts of our cm unity bf similar area 
are so highly favored. 

These resources are well reffresent- 
ed in each of the fmr great depart¬ 
ments of mining industry, viz; The 
Precious Metals, Iron, Copper and 
Coal. 

Of mines yielding the Precious 
Metals, there are at least 140 known 
tothe.MiningBoard,situated in North 


Carolina, and about 40 in the con¬ 
tiguous parts of South Carolina. 

EXTENT OF THE AURIFEROUS AREA. 

Gold is found here and there in at 
least one half of the State, but 
the portion productive on a 
working scale is considerably less, 
embracing about one-fourth of the 
entire area—12,000 square miles; it 
e.xtends from Moore and Franklin 
counties on the east, nearly to the 
Tennessee line on the west. Within 
these limits may be found illustra¬ 
tions of every mode of occurrence of 
Gold—placers,gravel washings,beds, 
veins, and bottoms of streams. With¬ 
in this area, too, are at least three 
different geological formations, each 
furnishing ores with peculiar charac¬ 
ters. 

GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MINES. 

'I he best known mines are upon 
the central belt of granite (for such it 
may be termed in a general way), 

I stretching across the State in a N. E. 
and S. \V. direction, with a width of 
10 to 25 mi'es; thetownsof Greens¬ 
boro and (, harlotte being nearly on 
I its axis; this area is commonly re- 
! garded bv geologists as among the 
! oldest on the North American con¬ 
tinent. 

To the east is a large body of slates, 
generally argillaceous, with a width 
varying from 15 to 50 miles; this re¬ 
gion also abourds in mines, but it 







4 


3IIA'ES AND 3IINI:EALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


has been less explored. To the west 
is a still larger area, made up for the 
most part of gneissoid and schistose 
formations, and extending nearly' 
or quite to the Tennessee border; 
this area, too, has a large number of 
mines, but the most valuable deposits 
are placers and gravel washings. 

EARLY HISTORY OF GOLD MINING. 

It is highly probable that gold was 
mined in this State as early as the 
Revolutionary war, but only in a 
small way by washing beds of 
streams. The discovery of the fam- | 
ous 28 pound nugget at the Reed I 
.Mine, in Cabarrus county, (then i 
Mecklenburg) occurred in 1799, | 
but regular operations wereprosecut 
ed only some years after; by the year 
1825 the Carolina gold mines had be¬ 
come well known at the North and j 
abroad. A Legislative Report of 1830 j 
puts the ascertained production at ! 
50500,000 per annum. Thus far work | 
had been done only on placer mines, I 
but the speedy exhaustion of these i 
compelled the miners t) hunt the | 
veins which had been the source of | 
such riches. j 

The large number of veins found ! 
put entirely new conditions to this * 
now important industry. 

Neither the circumstances, the 
knowledge nor the skill of that period 
were favorable to operations planned 
on a scale, or with aims such as we 
now witness in our Western territo¬ 
ries; had they been so the entire in¬ 
dustrial condition of the State would 
have been completely changed ; to 
this day nearly all mining work has 
been of the most desultory character. 
The veins were worked generally by 
farmers, who spent their odd time in 
these enterprises, using their slaves 


(otherwise unoccupied) as miners ; 
the waste attending such random 
work was enormous, but as ores were 
abundant and rich, and easily and 
cheaply treated, there was no incen¬ 
tive to economy. When the perma¬ 
nent water line was reached—gener* 
ally at the depth of 40 to 60 feet—the 
ore changed to refractory sulphurets, 
and as expensive pumping and hoist¬ 
ing machinery was necessary, and as 
all operations needed to be continu¬ 
ous, the work, as then conducted, 
ceased to be profitable, and mine 
after mine was discontinued; the 
larger number remain abandoned to 
this day 

The five years preceding the war 
witnessed a revival of mining indus¬ 
try, and a real progress was made to¬ 
wards a mastery of the methods of 
dealing with sulphurets in an econo¬ 
mical and thorough manner. But 
the all absorbing issues of that strug¬ 
gle diverted all efforts in this direc¬ 
tion, and at its close but one mine was 
in operation, and that only in a fitful 
manner. 

THE MINING OF THE FUTURE. 

The dependence of the country here¬ 
after will be on deep lying ores con¬ 
taining 15 to30 per cent c)fsulphurets, 
mainly iron pyrites; occasional 
bunches of copper pyrites are found 
in a large number of mines, which is 
sometimes present in proportions 
large enough to be smelted for copper 
alone, though in any rationally con¬ 
ducted treatment the conte?its in gold 
and silver are important enough to 
give a good margin of profit. From 
a large number of analyses made 
from ores of every variety and from 
numerous mines, it may be said that 
there is hardly one which will not 








31INES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


5 


yield ores ranging in contents from 
$50 to $500 per ton, and not un- 
frequently pockets of ore are met 
with, which will for weeks average 
$50 per toll, but by far the greater 
quantity of ore mined will not reach 
to the half of this; were our mines 
running up to their capacity, it 
would be easy, by a simple picking, 
to obtain ores of of $50 value. Galena 
occurs in a few mines in small quan¬ 
tities, and is generally rich in gold 
and silver; blende is a frequent ac¬ 
companiment of galena ; arsenic and 
antimony are rarely present in more 
than traces. Nickel in workable pro¬ 
portion has never been met with, 
though it is often present in minute 
quantities. 

The south end of the central belt 
has been cnostex{)lored,and tlie larger 
number of known mines are within 
a radius of20 or oO miles of tOuirlotte 

But doubtless the number of mine.s 
in the Northern portion and also in 
the Eastern, belt, would liave been 
larger had equal care been given to 
their exploration 

THE CEXTRAE BELT —ENUMEFlATfON 

OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MINES. 

dhe most prominent mine hitherto 
has been the Rudisill ; it comprises 
two parallel veins—easily operated 
by the same shafts—which have an 
average combined width of 8 feet.— 
This mine, after standingsome years, 
has recently been re-opened, and new 
levels driven from the bottom of the 
o'd pump shaft, at a depth of nearly 
200feet The vein at this depth is of 
somewhat greater width than usual ; 
it carries a considerable amount of 
sulphuret, ai)parently of good grade 
A sma'l percentage of copper is found 
in the ore. The records of the past 


yield of the mine are defective, but it 
iscredited, by persons familiar with 
its history, with a production of $1,- 
000.000. 

The old Char’otte Mine, to the north 
of the above, has been worked to the 
same depth; the production was 
large. 

The Carson Mine, to the southwest 
of the Rudisill, has a wide vein and 
superior ore. Near by are the Sam 
Taylor and the Icehour mines. 

The extension of the Rudisill mine 
to the south is met with on the plan¬ 
tation ofMrS. M. Howell; it has given 
some flue specimens. 

On B F. Wilson’s plantation, to the 
southeast, is an unusually promising 
I vein, unwmrked as yet; it extends to 
i R. E. McDonald’s plantation. 

I The Clark Mine is about one mile 
west of the Rudisill. This mine has 
! borne a good reputation, 

I The Davidson Mine, or group of 
mines, one and a ha f mi'es west of 
Cliarotte furnished hu abundance of 
ore down to the water line: when 
abandoned, the ore was said to have 
been of good grade, but too refractory 
to be profitab y worked with the ap¬ 
pliances of 20 years ago 

Similar statements may be made of 
the Trotter Mine, to the Southwestof 
the ark. This mine is cut by the 
Atlanta Railroad. 

The Capps Mine, five miles west of 
Charlotte, is another of the great 
mines of this section, and has yielded 
even more liberally than the Rudisil’. 
The greatest depth reached is 2i)0 feet. 
There are two converging veins, one 
of which, at its north end, passes into 
another property, and is known as 
the McGinn Mine. Both veins are 
wide and strong, and have given 




6 


3fINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


superior ore. It is not worked at 
present. 

The McGinn Mine is one of the few 
mines of this section now in opera 
tion, and is at present in “bonanza ” 
The north end of the vein has yielded 
a high grade of copper ore, while the 
south end is for the most part aurifer¬ 
ous iron pyrites. The ore bodies at 
present are of unusual width and of 
good grade; the assays of it have 
been very flattering, 

The Dunn Mine, nine miles west of 
Charlotte, has three veins, one carry¬ 
ing copper. 

Tlie Stephen Wilson Mine is nearly 
nine miles west of Charlotte; it is on 
a property of 310 acres ; there are ten 
well defined veins. The only" vein 
worked runs in an east and west 
direction (the veins of this country 
course N. E. and S. W. usually), and 
has yielded a large amount of good 
ore, some'of it of exceptiona ly high 
grade. 

'I'his vein has been the most ex 
tensively worked of any in this sec¬ 
tion ; it is entered by an inclined 
shaft on vein No 2, and exploited by 
three levels, at 120, 200 and 300 feet, 
respective y on the inc ine. ! 

The greatest length of the under-| 
ground workings is 1,500 feet. The I 
ores carry a small percentage of | 
copper. Tlipse^facts are due to the 
courtesy of Capt. S. Grose, formerly 
Superintendent. 

The Frazier, Hipp and Todd, and 
some other mines are near by. The 
Todd is now actively at work, and 
as reported. witlFgood resu’ts, there 
being a large amount of vaTiable ore 
on the dump. 

The Kerns or Hopewell)*Mine, 11 
mi'es northwest of Charlotte, bears 


iron and copper pyrites containing 
gold; the copper is frequency present 
in such proportions as to make it a 
valuable smelling ore. 

I he Ferris Mine, five mi'es north¬ 
east of Charlotte, is another examp'e 
of the copper bearing veins of this 
section. It has been worked to a 
depth of 90 feet; the ore is largely 
brown oxide, with iron pyrites and 
frequent masses of copper pyrites; 
the latter is admirably adapted to 
smelting; samp'es of its ores have 
assayed very high. 

The Ferris, the Henderson, the Mc¬ 
Ginn, the Chapman and the Dunn 
are l ara'lel, but at some distance 
apart; they are well reputed. 

On the farm of H. A. Hunter, of 
Huntersvi le,sixteen mi'es northwest 
of Charlotte, is a gold vein with a 
very promising exposure. It has 
been explored only to the depth of 
23 feet, and found to carry some very 
good ore. 

The Hunter, the Crosby, the Rogers 
and the Pioneer Mills are from 12 to 
17 miles nearly east of Charlotte; the 
la&t three carry copper pyrites in con¬ 
siderable quantity. The debris about 
the Pioneer Mil s is everywhere cop¬ 
per bearing, and points to the jiroba- 
hi ity that the ore was of good grade 
as to copper contents. 

The Newell, the Pharr and eight 
other mines are near by. 

The Johnson, the Stinson, the Max- 
we 1, the Bane, the Hay and the Rea 
Mines are seven to nine miles nearly 
east of Charlotte, ivj ost of them have 
been considerably’ worked. 

The Tredenick Mine is seven miles 
southeast of Charlotte, The ore is 
auriferous iron and copper pyrites. 

The Alexander Mine is live and a 







MINES AND MINERALS OF N0R7H CAROLINA. 


half miles nearly east from Charlotte. I 
It has been extensively worked. j 

The Caldwell Mine is about six 
miles nearly east of Charlotte It has 
yielded lar^^e bodies of good ore. 

The Harris Mine is ten mi es from 
Charlotte in an easterly direction 
The lasf mine has now been divided 
into several. Some unusually rich 
pockets have recently been discov¬ 
ered. 

The E'liott Brothers have recently 
discovered fine veins on their proper¬ 
ty, five miles from Charlotte, carry¬ 
ing both brown ore and copper py 
rites of fine quality, but sutficient 
work has not yet been done to ascer 
tain the full value of the discovery. 
Should present anticipations be real 
ized, the copper pyrites will have a 
ready and profitable market as a 
fluxing ore. 

The iNolan, the Jordan, the Means, 
the Bennett, the Cathey, the G. C. 
Cathey, the Sloan, the Gibson, the 
Mct'orkle, and several others, are 
within reach of Charlotte. 

Concord, the county seat of Cabarrus 
county, is the centre of a large group 
of mines, of which twenty at least are 
widely known, while there are many i 
others which are known only locally. | 
Among those with reputation are the 
following : 

Phoenix Gold Mining Company, 
with a property of 200 acres, on which 1 
areseveral veins, most of which carry | 
copper as well as gold. The debris j 
lying about, points to ore of a good 1 
percentage. Most of the veins on the j 
above property extend to the lands i 
of the Vanderburg Mining Company; | 
the ores are similar to those of the | 
above mine. j 

The’North_Barrier, the South and i 


the Middle Barrier are in close prox¬ 
imity to the Phoenix, and adjoining 
is the California Company’s property. 

The Reed Mine, on Rocky Kiver, 
about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, 
is chiefly of historic importance. 
Gold was found here in 1799, and for 
a period of more than 50 years it con¬ 
tinued to be prolific of large nuggets 
of native gold, weighing from one 
pound to 28 pounds Fora long period 
it was worked only as a surface or 
placer mine, though ultimately a 
vein was discovered, and worked 
to a depth of 90 feet, with satisfactory 
results. 

About Salisbury are groups of 
mines, but none of them ha'O at¬ 
tracted the attention they deserve. 

A few only, like the Yadkin, have 
acquired any consid-rablerep ) tat ion. 

The range from Salisbury toGreens- 
boro’ has not been examined with 
the care received by the sections we 
havejust discussed; S'ill a large num¬ 
ber of mines are known; only the 
more important can be enumerated: 
The McCulloch, Jack’s Hill, and 
Lindsay, make up a vein about one 
mile long The former gave both 
gold and copper ore of a high grade. 
The vein is from a few inches to ten 
feet wide. 

The Fisher Hill mir e, five miles 
south of Greensboro, is reputed to 
have g-^od ores The Hodges Hill 
Mine, in this vicinity, carries copper 
pyrites. Ten miles south of Greens 
boro’ is the Gardner Flill Gold Mine 
with several veins yielding both gold 
and copper, the latter ore being of 
high grade. 

THE “slate liELT ” 

The “Slate Belt” is best described 
in a general way as argillaceous, but 





8 


MINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CA ROLINA. 


other varieties often occur. This 
belt, like the Granite belt previously 
discussed, abounds in mines of gold, 
which often carry silver, copper and 
lead, in considerable quantities, in 
addition. 

Forty mines are known to the Min 
ing Board in 8outh Carolina, most 
of which lie in this formation; three 
only have been worked to any extent 
or have acquired any great notoriety. 

The Dorn Mine in Abbeville is the 
best known. Perhaps no mine in the 
United States has given such rich 
ores, and in such quantity, as this 
once famous mine. It is not known 
that any record has been kept of its 
production. 

The Brewer Mine, tifty^two miles 
southeast of Charlotte, is one of the 
most peculiar in the Gold Mining 
Eegion of the South. Most of the 
eminence on which the mine is situ 
ated is ore, but of so low grade that 
it can be worked success^dly only by ! 
the treatment of immense quantities. I 

The Hale Mine, southwest of the | 
Brewer, has been worked to the | 
depth of 100 feet. The ore is rela I 
lively low grade, and as it contains ! 
a large per cent of sulfihurets it has ‘ 
proved too refractory to work witli 
the appliances now in n^e. 

On the Slate Belt the more impor. 
tant mines in North Carolina are the 
following: 

The Howie or Cureton, in Union 
county, and 22 miles southeast of 
Charlotte This mine has. with two I 
exceptions, been more extensively | 
worked than any mine in North j 
Carolina, the greatest depth reached j 
having been 300 feet nearly. No j 
record of the am unt extrac ed is : 
no\v known. 


The Wyatt Mine is two miles east 
of the Howie, and the Washington a 
little to the north, and near by is the 
Smart Mine. 

Fifteen miles nearly southeast of 
Charlotte occurs an interesting group 
—theLemmonds, Folger Hill, Davis, 
Lewis and Phitfer,—tiie latter having 
yielded enormously rich pockets. 

Fifteen miles east of Charlotte is 
the Stewart Mine, which has given 
rich ore ; galena and blende are fre¬ 
quently found with the ore. 

The Moore, Dulin, Fox Hill and 
Crump Mines are near by. 

Long and Crowell Mines, in Cabar¬ 
rus and Union counties, have more 
than 20 veins, some of which carry 
copper and lead as well as gold. 

The J. C Hamilton Mine, in Anson 
count'-, is extensively opened; the 
vein is wide and the ore of good 
grade ; large bodies of ore are report¬ 
ed to be exposed 

Gold Hill Mine, in Rowan county, 
15 rni'es from Salisbury, was discov¬ 
ered in 1842, and has been more ex¬ 
tensively worked than any mine in 
the state ; only two of its veins have 
|)roved of workable value - the Earn¬ 
hardt and the Barnhardt. the former 
having been exploited to a depth of 
more than TOO feet,and ore of fairipial- 
ity has been found to its very low .‘^t 
point: a small per cent of copper is 
an almost invariable constituent. The 
large bodies of ore have allowed this 
mine more than 20 years of continu¬ 
ous and, for the most part, profitable 
work. Daring the war work was 
suspended, and since the surrender 
the operations have, from lack of 
capital, been too desultory to do ju.s- 
tice to this fine property._ 1 he pro- 






3III\ES Ayo MINERALS OF NORIH CAROLINA. 


9 


duction of Gold Hill has been at least 

$ 2 , 000 , 000 . 

The .N’acrMakin and the Trautrnan 
are near by. 

Ten miles north of Gold Hill is 
Silver Hill, notatOe as lu in;^ the onlx 
lead nune in North Carolina thus far 
deemed workable; the lowest work¬ 
ings are more than 600 feet in depth. 
The ore is argentiferous galena, with 
a large per cent of blende, 'there 
are other locali-ies near Silver Hill 
which f)roniise.io yiebl ore of a 
similar character. 

Ihe Waid Mine is in Davidson 
county, 15 miles east of Lexington 
It is both a surface and vein mine. 
It was favorably iio*i<'e(l by Prof. E. 
Emmons, the late S'ate Geologist. 

The Jones and theLoLin mines are 
to the east of ihe above. 

The v'elborn Alino, 6 mi’es from 
Lexington, is now being worked. 

The couiitit-s of Aiotegomery and 
Stanley are known to abound in the 
precious metals, but being remote 
from the highways of commerce, little 
has been done in the wav of explora¬ 
tion. The Steel and the Russel a. iiu s 
are the only ones of more than local 
importance; the latter* ields an enor¬ 
mous body of low grade ore, and is 
now worked. 

The gravel mines of Montgomery 
are attracting deserved attention ; the 
Christian Mine is the best known ex¬ 
am p’e of them ; on'v a small excnva 
tion has been made in the bank, but 
even this, with an inadequate supply 
of water, afforded large and gratifying 
results. 

In Moore county only a few mines 
are in operation, the most important 
being the Cagle Mine and the Chick 
Mine ; the latter also carries copper. 


THE “GNEtSSOID BELT 

On the third holt, allud'd to at the 
commencement of this report, the 
most noted mine is the King’s Moun¬ 
tain. ft is situated 4i» miles snuth- 
west of Chari'tto, miuI one mile from 
the railroad from Charlotte to Atlanta 
and on the northerly part of the 
Kings Mountain Eidge of Revolu¬ 
tionary fame. The mine is in lime¬ 
stone,and theore isaltogether unique. 
The ore body is made up of lenticular 
masses of impure carbonate of lime, 
(the immediate associate of the gold 
is a mooted question ) In places it is 
composed of the ordinary brown ore 
of gold mines of this region ; the body 
last exploited varies from six to thirty 
feet in thickness, which for the most 
part is workable material. The ore 
is unusually free from sulphurets; a 
former chemist of the mine says that 
it carries only three per cent, com¬ 
posed of ga'ena, blende, tetrahedrite, 
iron and copper pyrites, tellu et of 
lead, and perhaps telluret of gold. 
The ore is low grade, but the great 
width of the vein, the ease and cheap- 
ne-!s with which it is mined, the fa¬ 
cility with which it is crushed, and 
the relatively large proportion of 
gold which can be extracted, have 
made this mine a favorite; for years 
it has made a more steady return 
than any oth<^ r mine in this section. 
The product of gold is probab'y about 
$750,000. The greatest depth is about 
25J feet. 

The Crowder’s Mountain Mine,four 
milts to the northeast, and on the 
east side of the mountain of that 
name,comprises very large ore bodies, 
but they have not been sufficiently 
explored to justify any assertion as 
to the value of the mine. Valuable 





MINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


10 

-bodies of barytes are known to exist 
on this mountain. 

On the High Shoals property (to the 
northwest of tlip King’s Mountain 
Mine) are throp mines : Long<'reek, 
Asbury. and Dixon or High Shoals 
mines-from all of which the produc¬ 
tion in former years has been very 
large; the first of tln-se is in the pro¬ 
cess of reopening, and the [)repara- 
tions for reworking are vigorously 
pushed. Good bodies of ore are 
known to exist. Other and smal er 
mines are near by. 

This property is worthy o'* notice 
on other grounds, and will be alluded 
to hereafter. 

Other mines near this formation, 
and for convenience classed with it 
are the Oliver Mine, the Rhodes, the 
R^'yne, Duffie and the Burrell Wells; 
the latter, now being opened, is about 
ten miles from Charlotte, and near 
the west b^nk of the <'atawba River. 
There are at least four veins on this 
property, and not unlikely .-eveial 
cross veins; ore of the fimst quality 
is being minel; it promises unusual¬ 
ly well. 

The Burton Mine in Linco n roun‘y 
was explored to some extent during 
the last summer. 

Thet^ansler and Shuford mines are 
in Catawba county. 

The County Line Mine is in Davie 
county. 

1 he Gap Creek Mine, in th“ sou h- 
east part of Ashe county, is worthy 
of notice in this connection. T he 
vein has the most marked character¬ 
istics of a fissure vein ; it has been cut 
at a d(!pth of about 40 feet, and found 
to be from 18 irndies to 8G inches in 
width. This deposit has yielded 
some beautiful peacock copper ore, of 


high value, both in copper, gold and 
silver. It is one of a group of mines, 
but none of the others have been 
explored 

Vein mining in the mountains has 
been little followed, the veins rarely 
being of any size that would yield a 
profitable leturn. The Baker Mine, 
on John’s River, near the mouth of 
Wilson’s Creek. Caldwell countv, is a 
notable exception; the MichauxMine, 
not far distant, has also acquired some 
notoriety. 

Gravel mines have, however, been 
'argely worked.^ The most noted 
locahn ies are in Brindletown. Bracket- 
town, Whiteside and Jamestown, in 
McDowell and Riuh(M-ford counties ; 
Sandy Plains and Pacolet River, Po'k 
county ; Fairfield Valley, Jac’^son 
CO u n ty ; A^al 1 ey tow n a n d Vea ngea nce 
Creek, Cherokee county; the gold 
belt of Cherokee i)robab'y extends 
into Georgia. Many of these gravel 
mines have been worked forty or fifty 
years, and are still productiv’^e 

The Mining Board does not feel at 
liberty to dismis- this portion of its 
report witlnait some allusion to the 
past, and some consideration of tbe 
furure, of this industry 

Prior to the war the old fashioned 
Carolina gold mill was thecnief ma- 
C'inery re'ied on for millinu’. and 
with attention to the details of its 
work did well; nothing (>qual to it 
has since been introdm-ed After the 
war tlie t'alif >rniji stamu battery was 
generally substituted, but with an ex- 
ception here and there, it has proved 
lamentably inefficient for amalgama¬ 
tion purposes, though admiral) e as a 
crusher Hereafter the ])rosperity 
of our mines will largely depend on 
metallurgical es:ab’ishments; wheth- 





3ILVES AlVf) MINE !A IS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


11 


er these will ernplov mecha'iioa-, 
rheniical or smelting methods, or a 
eoiiibinatioii of them, is, as yet, mat 
tor of conjecture. 

The three pointsof Charlotte,Salis¬ 
bury and Greensboro are convenient¬ 
ly situated to accommodate their 
respective sections, and the railroad 
system of the State is now sufficient¬ 
ly extended to afford fair facilities 
for shipping, etc. 

Most of the geological formations 
of this State extend into South Caro¬ 
lina, and whatever is said of the 
former may be said of similar parts 
of the latter State. In truth, the 
north and north A’est ponions of the 
hitler State are<pu’eias closely con¬ 
nected, industrially, with North Caro- ! 
iina as with the more southern parts ' 
of their own. 

TOTAL PRODUCTJOX OF GOLD A>’P 
SILVER, TO JUNE oO, 1877. 

Gold. Silver. 

Nor'-h Carolina.10,370 m2 IS 7$14,743.33 

South Caroiiaa. 1,382,43=) 7t 2.93 

Total.$11,7)2.947 92 $41,740.20 

These figures are the official reports 
of the various Mints and Assay offices 
But it is altogether probable that a 
large amount has found its way into 
the arts, wiihout being properly 
credited ; the actual production can¬ 
not have been less than $15,000,000, 
and perhaps as high as $20,000,000. 

IRON MINES. 

As regards iron, tlie resources of 
North Carolina are even greater, and 
are scattered qui'c as widely over the 
whole of the central and w’estern part 
of the State. Some of the more im¬ 
portant localities are enumerated 
belowL* 

The central belt, though abounding 


in places with the finest specimens 
of iron ore, has never been critically 
examined. 

The formations to the east and to 
the w’est (in the latter case quite near 
to the boundarv line separating the 
two formations) abounds in localities 
furnishing ore of the finest quali y. 
The best known localities?in the erst¬ 
ern belt are at Chapel Hill, Franklin- 
ville, Randolph county, Ashboro and 
along Deep River. The ore at Chaj el 
Hill is* a red hematite, and is found 
about one mile north of theUniversi- 
i ty. It is both abundant and })ure. 

I Chemical analysis and the practical 
I tests of smelting both show it to be 
! a very good material for maxing a 
high grade of iron. 

The liiickliorn Iron ^linc, in the 
southeast corner of Chatham county, 
is a little to the east of the slate for-*> 
mation, being situated on the banks 
of the uaire Fear River; the deposit, 
w hich is mostly red hematite, coip 
taining in some pans a liigh percent¬ 
age of manganese, is found capping 
a hill 200 feet high. The ores are 
fairly pure, and of a good grade for 
smelting purposes, as is indicated by 
its application to the manufacture of 
car wheels. This and other mines 
near by are worked by the American 
Iron and Steel Company, which has 
erected furnaces and spent a consid¬ 
erable sum in improving the naviga¬ 
tion of the Cape Fear River. 

More attention has been given to 
these mines than to any others in the 
State on account of their proximity 
to the Deep River Coal Fields near 
by, and the probability of a reliable 
and cheap fuel, such as no other mines 
I in the State can boast of. 
i In the adjacent Triassic, on Deep* 







12 
r - 


MINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


l?iver, Chatham county, is an abun¬ 
dant supply of coal; it will be alluded 
to hereafter. The iron ores of the 
coal measures ni nt a passiiii.' notice; 
their extent and value are little 
known, inasmuch as f«»rminjr part of 
the coal measures, there are few out¬ 
crops and hence little opportunity to 
s^udy the series. When the coa de^ 
p )sits are worked we may expect a 
simultaneous exploitation of these 
ores, shouut their quantity ami quali¬ 
ty prove favorable. 

The ball ore is la-gely'carbonate of 
lime and carbonate of majrnesia, and 
forms a gfood flux. The black band 
ore occurs in seams; the analyses thus 
far given do not indicate h large 
percent of iron, and at the same time 
show a suspiciously large amount of 
phosphorus and sub hiir. 

The Evans Ore Bed, six miles north 
of the Gulf in < ha iiam county, is in 
the slate proper. I'he’ ein is reported 
to be six ft^et in thickness, the ore a 
red hematiteofhigh grade and purity. 

Ore Hill, in Chatham countv, and 
near he Randolph county line, is a 
very promising locality. The veins 
are numerous and of good width. 
The records of analyses show a good 
percentage of iron, and mere traces 
of sulphur and phosphorus. 

The later geological formations of 
Eastern North Carolina contain many 
deposits of iron ore, mostly limoni e, 
but their number, extent and charac 
ter are little known. 

The beds of the gneis.soid formation 
are, as respects extent and richness 
and certainty of supply, more impor 
taut than those enumerated. 

A few miles west of Greensboro, 
occur beds of ore unrivalled for width 
length and quality of ore. It has 


rece ved the name of the Tuscarora 
Ra’gH.a'd has been pi o ved to extend 
at least 28 miles. 

'riiree miles fo the wes^ is another 
series of beds, of a similar characier, 
wi Iqa dij SOU!beast. 'I'hese ore beds 
vary in wid h from a few inches to 
several fer t. dim ore is niagn(‘tite 
and generally titaniferous. Subor¬ 
dinate parallel beds are frequent. 

Hitherto the only mode of treating 
these ores has been by the Catalan 
Forge. Very little deep mining has 
been done on these beds. 

The above meinofauda resraM^fii^g 
iron have been largely taken from the 
Geological Feport of Aortli Carolina 
for 1875. 

Following the general line of the 
geological formations southwest, 
through Davidson, Rowan and Iredell 
counties, few localities of iron are 
known; but ihis sire'ch of country is 
too little exp’ored to justify an asser¬ 
tion rhat I here are none. 

At Catawba River, near Sherrill’s 
Ford, is found a noted loealiry, the 
ore from which is worked to some 
extent. 

Another range of iron or^ beds 
commences near this Ford and ex¬ 
tends, with frequent interruptions, in 
a so thwest direction fiftv miles, to 
Cherokee Ford on Broad River, S C. 

In Lincoln county are found the 
Mountain Creek, the Furnace, the 
Morrison Brevard, Beard, Robinson, 
and the Big Ore banks. 

1 hese beds have been very inade¬ 
quately explored, but so far as the 
practical tests of work apply they are 
known to be nf good grade and great 
purity. Some of them were worked 
as early as the Revolutionary War, 



' Mn\ES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


13 


and are now supplying ore for a few 
small furnaces. 

To the northwest of these beds are 
two others which have been even less 
explored viz: The Forney and the 
Barringer ore banks, in Catawba 
county. 

The High Shoals property, in the 
central part of Gaston county, and on 
the South Fork of the Catawba River 
is by far the most interesting property 
in this section, both from its extent, 
its iron ore, its gold ores, for 
its agricultural capabilities, and 
above all, for its unsurpassed water¬ 
power. Rarely d<je3 a tract combine 
so many advantages. 

The tract is narrow, but extends in 
a nearly nearly northeast and south 
west course fully ten miles. It is 
traversed by two railroads, and is 
quite near a third. The pr*»pHrty 
comprses a smelting furnace and 
rolling mills, which have not been 
in use since the war closed. The 
supply ol ore is from the Costner, the 
Ormond the Ferguson, the Ellison, 
and the Mountain Ore Bank ; all these 
give a good grade of ore of great 
purity. The gold mines on the 
property, viz: Long Creek, Asbury, 
Dixon or High Shoals mines have 
been already alluded to : in addition, 
there is a vein <>f unusually fine com¬ 
pact iron pyrites, yielding 40 to 50 
percent of sulphur, which is remark 
ably free from arsenic and antimony, 
and is fully equal to the Norwegian 
and Spanish pyri»es now so largely 
imported into England for the manu¬ 
facture of sulphuric acid. 

The magnificent water-power of 
the South Fork of the Catawba River 
at this point is capable of immensely 
greater application than it has ever 


received; the discharge is 200,000 gal¬ 
lons per minute over a fall of twenty- 
three feet in all. Its great value will 
probably be in the driving of ma¬ 
chinery for cotton factories, the uses 
to which it has been put employing 
probably not a fortieth part of its 
power. 

The Crowder’s Mountain iron pro¬ 
perty, owned by the Garrett Bros., 
Ringwood, Halifax county^ is imme¬ 
diately to the south of the High 
Shoals, and extends to the South 
Carolina line Itisa tract of upwards 
of eleven thousand acres, and com¬ 
prises the elevations known as Crow¬ 
der’s Mountain and King’s Mountain. 
The Air Line Railroad, from Charlotte 
to At'anta, nearly skirts the western 
boundary of the property. The Yel¬ 
low Ridge Ore Bank, immediately 
under the west side of Crowder’s 
Mountain has furnished a large 
amount of ore for the furnaces and 
forges of the vicinity. 

Upon the flanks and summit of the 
mountain are found several beds — 
The ore is of unrivalled purity. The 
inaccessibility of the ground has pre¬ 
vented thorough exploration. On 
the east flanks of this ridge are .sever¬ 
al beds of fine barytes 

The King’s Mountain Iron proper¬ 
ty is situated in South < arolina, a 
little south of the North Carolina 
line; the beds worked, of which 
there are several, extend in a north¬ 
east and southwest direction from a 
point about six miles northeast of 
Cherokee Ford to a point about two 
miles southwest. A furnace and forge 
wa^ formerly operated at the Ford. 

Six or eight miles southwest of 
Cherokee Ford is an iron property of 
several thousand acres, owned by the 




li MINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA 


South Carolina Manufacturing Com¬ 
pany. '1 he ore is abundant and of 
good quality, and furnace operations 
were carrie 1 on for a loujr time till 
in 187-!, the low price of iron com- 
pe led the closing of the works. 

The Bull Ruflin beds, in Watauga 
county, N. C., and the beds adjacent 
give rich hematites, of the greatest 
purity 

The western portion of this State 
lias by rf as m of its rug^i-^d character 
and thespsrseness of the population 
never been explored as i's promise 
justifies, but enough is known of its 
resources in iron to indicate that ore 
will be found in the greatest profus¬ 
ion. 

In Puivy county the localities 
known are; Torn’s Creek, the Sand 
Rank, the BUck Bank, the Hutchin’s, 
the Upper Bank, and Shields. Hob¬ 
son’s is in Yadkin county. 

The Rogers ore bank in Stokes 
county, is well known locally. 

Davie, Forsythe, Caldwell, Wilkes, 
Alexander and Burke, and in truth 
most of the western counties abound 
in loca ities where surface specimens 
are found in larae quantities, and in 
many placers beds have been uncover¬ 
ed. The largest and most interest¬ 
ing deposit of iron ore is found in 
Mitchell county, the Cranberry mine. 
This deposit has an outcrop 15CU 
feet long, and several hundred feet 
wide; the ora is magnetite of the 
finest quality. Other localities in the 
same county are known. 

Helton Creek, in Ashe county, is 
a well known locahty. 

Cherokee county abounds in limoii- 
itc, which occurs widely distrihutr d. 

All through the State the fuel re¬ 
sources aie usually wood and char¬ 


coal. the pig iron manufactured be* 
ing for the most part cold blast char¬ 
coal iron and of a fine qua ity, while 
wrought iron sent out from the forges 
enjoys the best roputaiioii The pro¬ 
duction is not large. 

COPPER. 

The copper industry of tlie State, 
though respectab’e, has been even 
less deve'oped than the others de* 
scribed. Many of our gold mines 
have yielded copper ores in abun¬ 
dance, notably the Kerns, tlie Crosby, 
the Rogers, the Fioneer Mills, and 
the tio d Mill ; the Yadkin, tlie Mc¬ 
Ginn, the S. Wilson, and tlie Rudisill, 
though not distinctively cojiper 
mines have at times turned out con¬ 
siderable amounts of Smelting ore; 
to these may be added the Gardner 
Hill and the Fisher Hill in Guilford 
county, the Chick Mine in Moore 
county, and the Plioeiiix in Cabarnis 
county. 

The Davidson or Emmons iviine, 
in Davidson county, has been very 
productive. The Clegg Mine, in 
Chatham county, has also been ex¬ 
tensively worked. 

The most extt nsively worked cop¬ 
per mine in the State is at Ore Knob, 
Ashe county. The vein has been cut 
at iioints for 2 GOD feet, and varies in 
width from five to twenty feet; im¬ 
mense bodies of ore are found, and 
give constant work to a very com¬ 
plete establishment, capable of turn¬ 
ing out two tons per day of refined 
copper. 

At Elk Knob. Ashe county, is 
found a vein yielding copper pyrites, 
but as it has hardly been explored its 
value can only be conjectured. 

The Peach Bottom or Maxwell 
Mine, in Alleghany county, was ex- 






NINES AND MINERALS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 


15 


(ensively worked prior to the war. 
and the concentrated material ship¬ 
ped to Ba'timore for a market. 

The H(juthwestern counties of the 
Strtteliave numerous localities show¬ 
ing copper veins, hut so little work 
has been done that the va ne of tlmse 
localities can only be conjectured.— 
The Savannah, the Cullowhee, and 
the W arybut are rt gardeii as tlie 
more })roniising. 

COAL. 

Tliere are two coal areas in the 
State, both triassic, viz: The D^n 
River, in the valley of the Dan 
River, near the north boundary of 
the State, and the Deep River, pre¬ 
viously de>cribt‘d. 'I’he area of the 
latter is estimated by Emmons at 
800 square miles. fhe former i.s 
probably less, but it has been very 
litt e explored. The coal beds of the 
latter have been cut at two points 
about three miles apart, viz: at 
Egypt and the Gulf, both int'hatharn 
couicy. Pr(»f Emtiions says that 
there are five seams, ‘separated by 
black slates, b aek band iron ore and 
fire clay.” He also speaks of bitu¬ 
minous shales lying above the coal 
seams, to the thickness of 70 feet, 
which are capable of yielding oo per 
cent of their weight in kerosene. 

Th^ Han River fields have hardly 
been penetrated, though exp orations 
were carried on to some extent dur¬ 


ing the war, and some coal was 
mined. 

Very flattering analyses of the coal 
from both basins have been civen, 
and Hre set forth in detail i i the vari¬ 
ous Geological Reports of the Stale, 
atid a s ) in the special rej)()rt of Ad¬ 
miral A’ilkes to the Secretary of the 
Navy in 1S58. iVeverthe ess, their 
real value for domestic purposes and, 
what is more important, for metal¬ 
lurgical fue s is largely a matter of 
conjecture. 

'I he difticuhy of securing a con¬ 
venient and cheap fuel wi 1 in the 
future constitu e the chief drawbttck 
to a large deveto[)ment of our miner¬ 
al resources, but. our abundant forests 
will for the present afibrd nsall need¬ 
ed supplies little expense 

Such are the more important 
mineral localities. 

The members of this Board are 
fully aware that the list is itnperfect, 
but the narrow limits of this paper 
forbade a longer one. 

If this siiort catalogue of North 
Carolina mines shall be instrumental 
in preparing the way to a thorough 
examination of its resources, and 
shall also further aid in leading to a 
wise deveIo[)ment of then», the Board 
will feel amply repaid for the 
elf<-rt expended in gathering these 
statistics. 

For the Mining Board, 

GEORGE B. HANNA, 
Chairman, 












